Councillors debate on Gong divide – City of Ballarat council briefs

CITY of Ballarat’s plan to remove vegetation from near the Gong Reservoir at Buninyong Botanic Gardens took up a majority of councillors’ attention during their regular meeting on Wednesday last week.

The proposal, which would see nearly 60 trees removed from the dam’s western embankment to allow for the reconstruction of the reservoir’s wall, has been a cause for contention for many in the community.

The topic saw a number of public presenters, who were split on the project with concerns around safety, environmental impact, and heritage preservation.

Cr Ted Lapkin said Buninyong is a house divided.

“To satisfy one faction means to infuriate the other,” he said.

As such, he brought forward a motion to rescind the project from the Buninyong Botanic Gardens Landscape Masterplan and start afresh to look at new options which would retain all vegetation.

Director of infrastructure and environment Bridget Wetherall confirmed that half a million dollars had already been spent on previous council reports on what to do about the Gong wall, and that suitable qualifiers had already been engaged to look at current proposals.

CEO, Evan King, said the municipality would be uninsured to cover any losses should they not mitigate for any risks.

Cr Ben Taylor said the work had already been done regarding the project.

“The best outcome is to not to go back to the drawing board,” he said.

“Get on and do it; save the money; and get things done.”

Cr Lapkin’s motion failed with only himself and Cr Samantha McIntosh voting in favour.

Cost of living considered

 

Cr Jay Morrison brought forward his own motion, with the aim of taking the current cost of living crisis into consideration during the 2025/26 budget.

Whether it be through potential cost savings or through providing targeted rebates, he said it’s important to take into account those doing it tough when it comes time to prioritising city spending.

“As a new councillor group, we understand that many in our community are feeling the pinch,” he said.

“We also recognise all levels of government must take steps to do what they can within their areas of responsibility to reduce cost of living pressures with the community and address these concerns with empathy and real action.”

Cr Damon Saunders spoke in favour, citing factors including the increase in grocery costs and mortgage rates for many.

Cr Lapkin said it’s important for the municipality to do what they can to “deal with economic policies imposed on us from above.”

Cr Morrison’s motion passed unanimously.

Bin collection debated

 

The question of waste collection frequency also proved a time-consuming topic for councillors, who discussed the service options between regular household waste, and food organics and garden organics, or FOGO.

A survey was undertaken in March, 2023 wherein 45 per cent voted for fortnightly FOGO and weekly waste pickup, while 40 per cent voted for the opposite.

Cr Tess Morgan brought forward a motion for council to adopt the latter option.

She said a similar practice has already been achieved by other regional municipalities like Hepburn and Bendigo.
“We don’t have to guess. We know because councils have gone ahead and done this before us. The option of weekly FOGO actually causes

people to use the bins,” she said.
“Because of that, that huge amount of waste that’s no longer going to landfill, it has a cost, and it’s approximately $7.3 million over 10 years.”

Cr Saunders spoke against the motion, and said he didn’t want council contributing to potential illegal dumping and waste as a result of the decision.

Cr Morrison spoke for the motion, and said recent landfill levy increases to 150 per cent, as well as the expected capping of the Ballarat Regional Landfill by 2040 were strong incentives.

The implementation of FOGO for local councils is a State Government mandate to be actioned by 2027.

Mr King said the municipality is looking to acquire land in the Ballarat West Employment Zone to build a dedicated recycling facility, while a funding application for $37 million through the Regional Recycling Fund has been submitted.

Cr Morgan’s motion failed with herself, and Crs Morrison, Taylor, and Des Hudson voting in favour, and Crs Lapkin, McIntosh, Saunders, Tracey Hargreaves, and Jim Rinaldi voting against.

Cr Lapkin introduced a motion to retain weekly waste pickup and have FOGO waste collected fortnightly.

“This report is an example of yes-ministerism in pursuit of an ideological policy agenda that sacrifices the will of residents at the altar of progressive virtue signalling,” he said.

The motion passed with the same councillors voting for and against as before.

Cr Morrison said he was disappointed at the decision, which he says is “doing nothing” to ameliorate rate increases, cost of living pressures, and waste charges.

Creative strategy celebrated

 

Councillors took a moment to recognise the impact of the municipality’s arts and culture arm, Creative Ballarat.

Reviewing their annual report card into the department, the item saw public submission from local creatives including musician and Be Hear Now co-coordinator Paula Maki, who said the city’s arts strategy has “made arts more accessible” in the region.

Cr Hudson said the region’s creatives are “critical lynchpins in terms of being able to bring the vibrancy to our city.”

“There’s the importance of infrastructure and concrete and things, but it’s our creatives that bring the heart and soul, the vibrancy and brings a city to life,” he said.